1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tools and particularly to a tool adapted to remove a wheel assembly from a vehicle chassis for automotive maintenance and repair. More specifically, the invention relates to a durable, inexpensive, and reconfigurable apparatus for removal of the wheel assembly from the vehicle chasses of a plurality of original equipment manufacturer (hereafter also referred to as “OEM”) automotive product lines.
2. Description of Related Art
In the various automotive vehicle industries, including for purposes of illustration but not limitation, wheel and brake servicing and repair, those with skill in the art have long-recognized the need for an improved method of removing the various components of a wheel assembly without damage that can occur to, for example without limitation, the rotors, hubs, bearings, spindles, and axles.
In the past, service personnel, technicians, and mechanics have had to resort to blow torches, mallets, hammers, pry bars, and the like to remove and break free the various wheel assembly components that may be seized together from the accumulation of dirt, dust, moisture, and from corrosion and cold welding that can occur from various forces, loads, and galvanic and frictional interaction between the wheel assembly components. Such corrosive and cold welding type seizing is further exacerbated by the combined effect of heavy load conditions experienced by many types of consumer, commercial, industrial, and military vehicles. Some technicians and mechanics also attempt to pull the assembly apart by securing pulling devices to one of the wheel assembly engagement members, typically referred to as studs or lugs by those having skill in the art. This method does not evenly distribute the pulling forces to the wheel assembly and often results in deformation and damage to the engagement members and to the wheel assembly, which can require replacement of the deformed and damaged parts, which further adds to and increases the labor and part maintenance costs.
Occasionally, vehicle manufacturers will suggest alternative removal methods including, for example, the installation of longer bolts or studs from the rear of the assembly that can be employed to force apart the components of the wheel assembly from the wheel hub, spindle, or axle. However, this method is generally ineffective to combat severely corroded parts and is generally incompatible for use with most OEM vehicle configurations such as, for example, four-wheel drive vehicles that incorporate complex axle component assemblies and difficult to access service configurations and vehicle locations.
As a result of such difficulty and in light of the increased expense and ineffectiveness of most prior art devices, mechanics generally resort to the pry bar, hammer, and mallet methods that typically impart unevenly applied impact forces, which most often deforms and damages the wheel assembly components including the hub, rotor, bearings, axle, and spindle.
As noted herein, the problem of seized wheel assembly components is especially common in vehicles that are adapted to carry frequently heavy loads and that are subject to particularly severe shock loads such as those experienced in off-road and various industrial and construction applications and environments. Removing the seized components of load carrying vehicles can take dozens of forceful hammer blows to the rotor, and often requires the use of a torch to create temperature differentials across and between the seized parts.
In severely corroded and seized situations, the torch is used to actually cut the non-removable parts from the assembly so that replacement components can be supplied. This torch removal technique is dangerous, time consuming, exhausting, and many times will cause damage to the components that would only otherwise require removal and servicing. As a result of such problems in removing and servicing various types of wheel assemblies and related components, many service facilities expend many extra man-hours each day removing seized components. Further, despite their best efforts, the technicians and mechanics often cannot avoid irreparable damage to the wheel assembly components during removal, the costs of which are borne in part by the facility, any warranty provider, and often in most part by the customer or vehicle owner.
What has been needed but as yet unavailable is a device that addresses some of the long-standing problems in the art. Some attempts have been made to improve devices for use in other technology areas. For example, the value of a slide hammer type device in imparting tensile impulse loads has been attempted in the automotive services industry.
Prior art devices and methods for applying tensile impulse loads have not been compatible for wide spread uses and do not properly impart effective and efficient axial forces. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,106,012 to Corner and U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,230 to Fornes, slide hammer devices are incorporated in axle pullers. Even earlier, U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,304 to Appel incorporated a slide hammer into a device for pulling sleeves from internal combustion engines.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,827 to Abel utilized a slide hammer device in a tool for removing axle spindles. While these devices attempt to impart effective tensile impulse loads on the object intended to be pulled apart or removed, none of the attempts to date have offered the reliable and novel aspects contemplated by the present invention, nor have they been compatible for use with the myriad OEM vehicles and components presently in the marketplace.
Instead, the prior art devices have been markedly limited in application and compatibility and when not entirely effective for the intended or desired purpose, such devices have often failed to establish any effective solution to the particularly troublesome seized wheel assembly components that may be severely corroded and welded together. The limited attempts of the prior art that have sought to address the particular issues related to one type of wheel assembly have been unable to operate with wheel assembly designs other than the one or two configurations contemplated.
The need remains for an apparatus that can be easily setup and reconfigured to ensure substantially axial transfer of generally uniform forces, that can be utilized on a variety of vehicles, and that can more readily remove and separate the components of a corroded wheel assembly, while minimizing or eliminating potential damage to the assembly during unseizing and separation.
The present invention meets the above described and other needs without adding any complexity, inefficiencies, or significant costs to implementation in existing applications and environments. In fact, the preferred apparatus according to the present invention can be implemented with relatively low-cost materials and components that can be easily adapted according to the principles of the present invention. The various embodiments of the present invention disclosed are readily adapted for preferable ease of manufacture, low fabrication and setup costs, effectiveness of operation, and for wide compatibility with various OEM components. Further, service personnel, technicians, and mechanics can employ the device and apparatus according to the principles of the instant invention without any additional training and without any additional tooling or equipment other than the improved wheel assembly removal apparatus and the various configurations thereof that are contemplated herein.